Journal of a Pilot
by diabloelmo
Summary: A SI fic, but one that tries to be a little more realistic than most. No 'second chance after dying'... just a new pilot. Plz R&R, chapter two up.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Why am I writing this? I have exams soon, assignments due and teachers breathing down my neck for me to do more work… and I'm STILL writing! I guess this isn't really so bad, as I just rehashed a previously written story, but still…

And before I get large, heavy objects thrown at me, I wish to tell everyone that 'And They Shall Know No Fear' is still on my priority list for stories, and will be finished soon.

Anyway, this has been re-written in some places, typos sorted out, and generally small little inconsistencies have been ironed out.

Journal of a Pilot

Chapter One

**xxx**

"Hey, Michael?"

"mm?"

My less than enthusiastic response had little to do with rudeness, but more of the fact I had a screwdriver held between my teeth. Around my room were scattered more tools and computer parts in equal measure. Currently, I had one hand wrapped around a mass of multicoloured wires, the other attempting to stick a RAM chip in a cramped corner of a motherboard. Needless to say, distraction was one thing I could do without.

"What's this note from school?"

I had to think about that one. _Note from school? Oh crap! What did I do… oh wait…_

Removing the tool from my mouth, I was able to give a slightly more eloquent reply than my previous mumble.

"Some permission slip for a compulsory mental check-up of something."

"Psychiatric test? What do they need that for?"

Finally deciding that more drastic action would need to be taken before all the parts would fit into the tiny metal box, I turned off my lamp and picked myself off the floor.

"I think its some worldwide research thing for school students. Called the 'Marduk report', if that means anything."

The figure in my doorway simply shrugged slightly, then scratched its chin, where a light layer of stubble had formed.

"Never heard of it. Well, I guess it won't hurt."

"Whatever."

**xxx**

"This is a problem."

"Indeed."

"The scenario can be too easily manipulated by the old men."

"They hold most of the cards, Ikari."

"Most, but not all. Has the Marduk report found some more potential pilots?"

"Of course, but nearly all of them come from areas with a strong SEELE presence. They cannot be trusted not to be a spy."

"Nearly all?"

"There is one, he is in… Australia, I believe."

"Excellent. Any chance he could have been contacted by the old men?"

"None, but we don't know if we ourselves can control him."

"No matter, he will obey or we will remove him."

"Very well. We will contact him and bring him here, but wouldn't SEELE disapprove?"

"At this stage, they will not have a confrontation. Remember, the third angel is not due for two weeks, and any move on their part could lead to complications."

"If you insist."

**xxx**

_tap-taptap-tap-tap-taptap-tap…_

The constant tune of fingers hitting keys blended in with several different songs being played around the room, most of which was fairly new and popular. Not mine.

Contrasting sharply against the new-age pop came the grating scream of ACDC, offending the ears of my classmates.

"Man, turn that shit off!"

"Get stuffed," I reply, turning the volume up a notch in competition with the rap blaring next to me, "this is part of our history, mate. REAL Aussie music."

The possibly-cutting reply was cut short by a knock on the door. Getting up from my computer, I let the kid in. Clenched in his hand, he held a slip of paper bearing a note from the front office.

"Michael Rudder, principal's office." He blurted, then left at a jog, obviously missing the air-conditioning to which he had been accustomed.

"Crap…" I mumbled, turning to save my work.

"Probably heard your music up there, and decided to expel you for it."

"Get stuffed."

Picking up my bag, I headed out into the heat of midday. By the time I had negotiated three sets of stairs, I was caked with sweat by the time I entered the office. Even the principal, normally dressed in a suit and tie no matter the weather, had removed his coat and tie.

_Must be hot…_I thought, before turning my attention to the room's other occupant. She seemed to be a doctor by her labcoat, although it was obvious she wasn't a natural blonde. Her smile was unnerving to say the least.

"Michael, sit down." At least her voice was warm. I obeyed, settling into a chair.

"What's this about?"

She gave me another unsettling smile, and indicated a manila folder on the desk. On the front was clearly labelled my name, under which was typed 'Marduk report candidate'

"Let me guess," I tried to alleviate my growing discomfort with levity, "I'm a nutcase, and you're here to take me to the crazy house?"

"Not quite. My name is Doctor Akagi, and I have a proposition for you."

"I'm listening." No matter how weird this was, I wasn't about to show her how freaked I was. Being able to keep a straight face is a skill that has served me well, especially in the less-than-legal games of poker played during lunch.

""You have been selected for a top-secret project, funded by the UN. I can't give you any details unless you have been cleared, but I can assure you, this is one of the most important projects in the entire history of mankind."

I raised an eyebrow slightly at this claim, but said nothing.

"You will be flown to Tokyo-3, have all expenses paid for, and will earn approximately a quarter of a million Australian dollars a year… plus bonuses."

It sounded almost too good to be true. Which meant it probably was.

"What's the catch?"

"It will be very dangerous, but you will be paid extra for any dangerous situations you will be in."

"And?"

"You will be expected to follow our orders to the letter. We may not be the military, but you can expect a similar amount of discipline required."

"Contract length?" I wasn't about to let anyone screw me over because I didn't read the fine print.

"Indefinite." Well, it seemed like she knew her game as well.

"Can I at least read the contract before agreeing to sign?"

The doctor lady gave another laugh, which sent a shiver down my spine. I decided right then and there that I didn't trust her at all. She seemed nice enough, though.

She opened up the folder and pulled out a sheet covered with a fine script. After reading it over three times, I decided that no nasty surprises would be awaiting me.

"It looks good, but I think I'll talk it over with my family before signing. Is that a problem?"

"Not at all. I will be here tomorrow, and you can give me your answer then."

**xxx**

I hate long trips. I mean, I once had to go on a six-hour bus trip, cramped into a seat, which might have been designed for a little kid, but the plane trip truly sucked. The food was probably rat poison mixed with dog food, the water tasted like industrial runoff, and the bloke sitting next to me snored. All of this I could have endured, but for the tiny fact that my MP3 player died. And there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

"_This is your captain speaking. We will be arriving at Tokyo-3 airport in ten minutes."_

_Sweet_! I thought, anxious to get off the aircraft as quickly as physically possible. What followed were ten of the longest minutes in my entire life, as I waited to get out of the flying hellhole and back to beautiful land once again.

Once I stepped into the sunlight, I breathed deeply. _Ahh. Real air…_

Picking up my bags, I looked around for my contact. Spying a familiar labcoat in the crowd, I pushed my way over to the doctor lady.

"G'day doc. Howyergoin?"

She blinked, obviously not understanding me.

"Sorry, doc. I mean, how are you?"

"I am fine, let's go."

"You're the boss."

I followed her outside, carting my travel bag and backpack. We finally reached her car, a shiny new Mercedes.

" Nice ride."

She inclined her head, and opened up the boot.

Chucking my stuff in, I hopped into the side seat, and I was treated to some of the worst driving skills I have ever witnessed. I swear, I could have gotten out and walked faster than this. However, I kept my opinion to myself.

"One of your fellow pilots are already here, you may visit her in hospital if you wish. Another is arriving tomorrow."

"Hospital? Would this be work-related, in any way?" I asked her suspiciously.

"I told you it was dangerous."

Not dignifying her with a response, I turned my attention to the scenery outside. We were approaching a heavily guarded blast door, emblazoned with the symbol of the organisation that I was now a part of.

NERV.

I idly leafed through the booklet she gave me, not really paying attention to it. Which was fine, as it told me absolutely nothing I didn't already know as fact or had figured out for myself.

Suddenly, our car train pulled out into an enormous cavern, complete with its own little city. The size of it completely boggled the mind, I was impressed that humans could even dig out something this huge.

I whistled low in appreciation. "Nice."

"This is the Geofront, home of NERV."

"So, what exactly is it you people do, anyway?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

I hate it when people do that.

**xxx**

I'm not sure what was worse, the massive expanse of corridors which seemed to go forever, or the fact that doctor Akagi knew the way so flawlessly.

Can't you take a wrong turn? Please? I need a reason to laugh at you… 

"Behind this door," she waved her hand dramatically, derailing my mental tirade with myself. "Lies the future of mankind!"

_Yeah, yeah. I have jet-lag, too tired to care._

Put off slightly by a lack of enthusiasm on my part, she keyed in a combination on the keypad next to the door. Sliding open, I stepped into a completely dark chamber. I could tell the room was massive by listening to echoes, but that's about all I knew. Despite myself, I yawned.

"Jetlag." I muttered as an apology.

"Here it is," Doctor Akagi continued, completely ignoring me. "Evangelion!"

She must have had a remote in her pocket or something, because the lights came on at that moment. I am sure that this 'Evangelion' would be impressive when shown this way, but unfortunately for her sense of dramatic effect, I was looking in the other direction.

Feeling somewhat foolish, I turned around, and let my jaw drop. Confronting me was the biggest, ugliest face I have ever seen. Its entire head was covered by a faceplate that did little to improve its appearance, which gave me the feeling that it would eat me with absolutely no compunction whatsoever.

"Wow." Was all I could say. I had to give it to her, Doctor Akagi knew what she was talking about, after all.

"This is the last hope for the human race. Evangelion, the ultimate fighting machine."

"Wha…what are you going to do with something like this? Waste an entire country?"

"No. Our opponents are not other humans, but monsters bent on destroying us."

Giant monsters. Sure. Godzilla and King Kong want to kill everybody. I've seen pornos that sound more realistic than this.

"And you didn't think to just nuke the suckers? Would have been cheaper."

"They cannot be hurt by normal weapons."

"Giant Ghostbusters. Great, this won't look stupid on my resume at all." I said sarcastically. Obviously incensed by my belief that she was crazy, the doc became very short with me.

"Say what you will, but you will see."

"As long as I get paid, I'll fight any pretend fairies, unicorns or dragons you want."

She seemed to develop a twitch under one eye, and I thought for a moment I had pushed her too far.

"For your information," she said, her voice dripping with venom, "They are called Angels."

"Great" I muttered to myself as she left the room, leaving me alone with the giant purple monster thing. "What have I gotten myself into?"

**xxx**

I'm sure that the list of things I hate is getting kinda long now, but being wrong has to top the list, especially about something like this. I wasn't even awake when the sirens began to blare, shocking me out of the tiny bed in the tiny apartment NERV gave me. Hastily throwing on some clothes, I raced out in what I assumed was the right direction to the Evangelion hanger.

Another thing to add to my list of pet hates: getting lost. By the time someone found me wandering the corridors deep in the bowels of NERV, a new pilot had already gone to the surface to fight whatever it was. I get up to the command centre in time to witness the first battle in the career of EVA, a hand-to-hand match against something that looked like it had crawled out of a tar pit.

As I watched the Angel begin to kick the living hell out of the Evangelion, I knew that there was a bloke my age in there, fighting for his very life. I silently cheered him on, even though he was obviously losing.

C'mon mate, get up… no, don't do that… Duck!… too slow… 

Once I saw the EVA's face being smashed apart by the angel's energy spike, I knew it was over. This kid didn't have a damn chance, hell; he couldn't even throw a punch properly.

Only then, when we had all lost any hope, that anything happened.

It began as a slight shocked-sounding voice at one of the consoles, and a steadily rising beeping emanating from the myriad of computers. A noise that was soon drowned out by a massive, throaty roar from EVA 01.

We watched in awe as the badly damaged war machine rose to its feet and proceeded to rip apart the black monstrosity in a bestial display of pure aggression.

"What the hell is that thing...?" I whispered to myself. Computers and machines don't spontaneously get up under their own power and begin killing things.

**xxx**

The first time I saw the bloke was in a hospital ward, and he was unconscious at the time. I glanced at the top of his medical record, noting his name for future reference. 'Ikari, Shinji. Third Child. Age: 16'

He looked fine, apart from a slight bruising around his right eye and left arm, injuries I supposed came from being mentally linked to the EVA.

After the battle, doctor Akagi introduced me to Captain Katsuragi, the operations director for NERV. This meeting reminded me of one slight problem I had overlooked when agreeing to do this crazy job: I don't speak a word of Japanese, and her English was just as bad. We then went over the details of piloting an Evangelion, from how we 'synch' with them to the oxygenating liquid pumped into the entry plugs. Apparently, the latter detail was not given to Shinji before he climbed into the entry plug for the first time, and was a bit of a shock to him.

Eventually, the subject of my own piloting career soon came up, and it was then I discovered I would be dead weight for the next six months or so.

"You're joking, right?"

"Unfortunately, no. Your EVA is still being manufactured in America."

I gave Doctor Akagi an exasperated look.

"Then why not send me THERE?"

"Because their training facilities are almost non-existent. Don't worry, you will be training as much as our current pilots, and we will be bringing forward the schedule for EVA 04 so that we can have you on the combat roster as soon as possible."

Arguing at this point was futile, so I just gave up and changed the subject.

"What about accommodation? That room you have me in now is a hole."

The doctor looked thoughtful, and had a short conversation with the purple-haired Captain who had been walking with us in silence for the past ten minutes. After much debate, Doctor Akagi turned back to me.

"As the Captain here is already seeing to the accommodation of the Third child, she can put up with you as well. Be warned though," she winked at me, knowing miss Katsuragi couldn't understand us. "Her cooking could kill an Angel."

I just shrugged in agreement.

How bad could it be? 

**xxx**

A/N: Righto, that's that. The second chapter is nearly finished, so it will get posted soon. I should really get back to finishing that assignment that is due tomorrow…


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Am I completely insane? I have my trial High School Certificate exams starting in a week and a half, and what do I do? Study? Hell no! I write stories. Oh well, I can't help myself, this story is far too interesting for me to be able to just leave it alone. And before all those fans of 'And They Shall Know No Fear' decide to find me and throw bricks at my head, I just want to say that I will get around to updating it! I promise! Its just taking an exceptionally long time for me to formulate the next chapter, which must be completely perfect. In the meantime, I will bore everyone to death with this jumping-on-the-SI-bandwagon story…

Journal of a Pilot

Chapter Two

Ohhh… 

When the good doctor warned me about Misato's cooking, I thought it was just a joke. Unfortunately, she wasn't kidding. I made a mental note to ask if we could use her instant ramen/curry mixture as a biological weapon for the next angel attack, thinking it would be more effective than anything else we had.

_Nah… It's probably too cruel even for them_.

I lay in my new room, clutching my stomach. I had tested my politeness to its limit, and actually consumed the entire bowl without complaint. At least it wasn't just me. Whenever I glanced at Shinji, he seemed to have turned a sickly green, and just by the watering of his eyes I could tell he was fighting down the urge to vomit.

Apart from the horrible parody of dinner, there was one tiny problem with staying here. When I agreed to come over to Japan, the thought that I didn't speak a word of Japanese did not even cross my mind. Even in NERV, there were a lot of people who could understand me. However, both my new housemates shared the same incomprehension of the English language as I did the Japanese. Needless to say, conversations were pretty much between Misato and Shinji. That was something I could handle for the time being, as I guessed that I would be here long enough to slowly pick up some phrases.

Unable to sleep, I glanced at my watch, the luminescent display reading 02:32. Great, still awake at two thirty in the morning, and with a stomach-load of a substance that deserves its own mention in the Geneva Convention. I shifted again on my sleeping mat, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

**xxx**

"Ah, did I miss something?"

While not the sprawling establishment I was used to in a country town, I could nevertheless tell that the building I was currently standing outside was, indeed, a school. Misato simply shrugged, said something cheerful in Japanese, and thrust a laptop computer and a mobile phone into my hands. Waving, she jumped back into the blue death-trap she drove, and sped off in a squeal of tires.

After staring dumbly at the multi-storied building for a few moments, I gave into fate with a sigh. I followed Shinji, who seemed to have a better idea about where he was going, and we reached what appeared to be an administration desk. Although early, there were several students walking around in small groups, chattering conversations incomprehensible to my ears.

As Shinji talked to the lady at the admin desk, I let my gaze wander. Stupefied by the decision to send someone whose local lingual extent involves being able to count to ten and the word 'yes' to a Japanese high school, my brain was still able to process one of the most primal instincts of the human race.

_There are many females in this vicinity…_ I quickly noted a small gaggle of particularly attractive girls walk past, some of them giving me curious glances. _This could be interesting…_

While I was digesting this, Shinji apparently had explained who we both were, and handed me a slip of paper. A timetable was printed on one side, but I just didn't have the heart to tell him I couldn't decipher what any of it said. So, I just followed him again as he set off, occasionally checking room numbers against his own timetable as we walked down the corridor.

Reaching what I assumed was our destination; Shinji opened the door and stepped through. I followed, noticing that the majority of the class had yet to arrive. One of the room's occupants, a relatively fair-skinned girl with her brown hair done up into pigtails, approached us and started asking questions. I gave a bemused grin, and pointed to Shinji. They had a short conversation, with my own name being mentioned once.

After my roommate bowed nervously and sat where the girl indicated, she turned to me.

"My name is Hikari Hokari," she said in halting English, "I am your class representative. Do you not speak Japanese at all?"

"Ah, no, sorry. You, ah, speak very good English."

_Yeah, real suave, Casanova…_stunned to find someone who I could understand; my reactions were probably not the best they have been. Surprisingly, she blushed.

"I have taken lessons. Would you like a tour of the school?"

"Sure, this is my second day in the country, I dunno how school even works here."

She took a moment to decipher what I said, and I made a mental note to speak slower.

"How will you understand the classes?" 

I rolled my eyes, and gave her a grin. When answering, I made an effort to speak clearly, in textbook English.

"I don't know. Actually, I did not know I was attending school until ten minutes ago."

After a moment, she deciphered what I had said, and seemed to hold in a laugh.

"Would you like to take a quick tour now?"

"Sure, why not?"

Still grinning, I followed the girl out of the room.

**xxx**

I may not have been able to understand the language, but it didn't take a genius to realise that according to all the girls, I was somewhat exotic, and therefore interesting. For the entire day, all I did was pretend that I couldn't hear the excited whispers and giggles whenever I passed, and it took a great deal of self-control not to blush. Being the centre of female attention was not something I was entirely used to.

Knowing that it was only temporary, I put it out of my mind, and took to reading the phrase book I had been able to get from the library. I sat with my new roommate under the shade of a tree, both of us content with silence. While Shinji listened to some music, I busied myself with jotting down notes and important words from the phrasebook I had lying across my lap.

"Michael-kun…?"

Looking up, my eyes fell on the class representative. Not being very good at remembering names, I quickly searched my memory for the right one.

"Err… Hikari, wasn't it?"

She nodded, and held out a computer disk.

"This is translation for your computer," She explained slowly, "it will turn Japanese into English, and English into Japanese."

"Thanks….ummm…" I quickly consulted my little list. "Arigito."

I'm not sure if I had pronounced that right, but she seemed to get the idea. Bowing, she walked off.

I slipped the disk into my pocket, and turned my attention back to the heavy task I had before me: learning Japanese.

**xxx**

"How soon can the unit be operational?"

"In the revised schedule, two months. The committee was not exactly happy about you going behind their backs, Ikari. However, they seem to be in a fairly forgiving mood, so I doubt that anything will come from it."

"Excellent. That should place its arrival alongside that of unit two."

"Doubling our combat efficiency. Perhaps that is why SEELE are allowing this to go ahead, they know how important it is to ensure the safety of terminal dogma."

**xxx**

A week passed. While my Japanese was still abysmal, I was slowly picking up a few useful phrases here and there. My most extensive vocabulary so far were insults and swearwords, which I doubted would be very useful in the course of my piloting career. Still, I was going alright for a bloke who had only began learning the language a week ago.

The program that the class representative had provided me with turned out to be incredibly useful. Not only would it translate back and forth between English and Japanese when using word processing software, it also worked over the school instant messaging system. So while verbal communication was practically impossible for me at this stage, being able to ask plenty of questions via the computer was really helpful.

However, today I had something on my mind other than learning. My first synch test was scheduled at five o'clock, and I was both excited and a little wary, as I had seen first hand what an Eva could do.

Only the other day had an unfamiliar girl had come into the class. She was swathed in bandages, and by her albino features I guessed that she was the first child, Rei Ayanami. Actually, that was really all I knew about her, and that was just an offhand remark made by Doctor Akagi the last time I saw her.

I tried introducing myself, but she really didn't seem very interested in making friends. Whether that had anything to do with her being shy, or my terrible attempt at an entire sentence in Japanese – I had written it out from my little phrasebook and practiced beforehand, but I probably pronounced it wrong – I didn't know. In any case she seemed to prefer her solitude, so I just left her alone.

Most of my new classmates had attempted to make conversation with me at one point or another during the week, but I guess my inability to speak the same language prevented me from making any real friends. The translator on my computer could only go so far, so the only person I could really talk to at all was Hikari. She seemed a nice girl, overly polite, and completely oblivious to any word I used that was not in a dictionary. I even had to mend my accent when talking to her, which made conversations somewhat strained.

All in all, my first week in Japan left a lot to be desired.

**xxx**

A/N: well, there it is. Not quite as long as chapter one, but I can't really add much more to it without going into the stuff I have in mind for chapter three. Assuming there will be one, of course…


End file.
